Handling equipment for spoolless cores



y 1959 s. w. HOMA ET AL HANDLING EQUIPMENT FOR SPOOLLESS com-3s 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 25, 1956 May 12, 1959 s. w. HOMA ETAL 2,886,193

HANDLING EQUIPMENT FOR SPOOLLESS CORES Filed June 25, 1.956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O HANDLING EQUIPMENT FOR SPOOLLESS CORES Stephen W. Honra, Yardville, and William C. Lovelett, Mount Holly, N.J., assignors to John A. Roeblings Sons Corporation, Trenton, NJ., a corporation of Delaware Application June 25, 1956, Serial No. 593,622

1 Claim. (Cl. 214-130) The present invention relates to the handling of spoolless cores, and more particularly to apparatus for facilitating the mounting of such cores on suitable reels and the subsequent handling of the wire carrying reels.

In shipping packages of wire, particularly heavy gauge wires in which the individual packages are relatively heavy, it has been found that considerable saving in transportation costs can be achieved by shipping the wire without a spool or reel. For this purpose, a suitable, easily disassemblable reel is provided with a cardboard or similar core on which the wire to be shipped is wound. The wire is then tightly strapped in order to prevent relative displacements between the various turns of wire. The reel is then removed from the core and the wire bearing core is packaged in a suitable container for shipment. When the wire reaches its destination, the core must be remounted on a reel in order to permit unwinding of the wire in the customary way. The present invention is particularly concerned with providing apparatus for facilitating the mounting of a core on a reel and subsequent discharge of the reel to the working or storage area.

A principal object of the present invention has been to provide novel and improved apparatus for the handling of spoolless cores.

More particularly, it has been an object of the invention to provide a platform on which a spoolless core of wire may be assembled on a spool or reel and then discharged in a vertical position in which it may conveniently be rolled by hand to an area where it is to be used or stored.

Other and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided apparatus for handling spoolless cores, comprising a frame, a shaft carried on the frame and a table carried on the end of the shaft. The shaft is rotatable between a position in which the table is horizontal and a position in which the table is vertical with respect to the floor under the table. Means such as a handle are connected to the shaft for rotating the latter. The table, which is adapted to support in horizontal position a wire carrying reel, has a plurality of spaced elements mounted thereon adjacent the periphery thereof for engaging the rim of a reel for retaining the reel on the table when the latter is tilted from the horizontal position thereof to the vertical position thereof, one of the elements being retractable to permit the reel to be rolled away from the table when in its vertical position.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a reel assembling and tilting device, in accordance with the invention, with the reel carrying surface in horizontal position;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the reel carrying surface shown in vertical position;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the device of 2,886,193 Patented May 12, 1959 "ice Figs. 1 and 2 with the reel carrying surface shown in vertical position; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 designates a floor, which may be in any convenient location in a factory, ware house or other place where spoolless cores of wire are to be assembled onto a spool or reel and then rolled away for storage or use, as the case may be. The apparatus of the invention may comprise a frame generally designated by the reference numeral 11, a shaft 12, and a reel carrying and tilting table or surface 13. The surface 13, which may be any suitable platform for supporting a reel in horizontal position, will hereinafter be termed a table. The frame 11 comprises a base formed from four rectangularly arranged channel members 14, 15, 16 and 17 welded together and firmly afiixed to the floor 10, as by bolts 18. Four upright channel members 19, 20, 21 and 22, which may be welded to the base, provide support for a bed formed by channel members 23, 24, 25 and 26, which may conveniently be welded together and to the upright members. As best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, additional support may be provided by brace members 27 located at the left of the frame 11, as seen in Fig. 1, and at the rear, as seen in Fig. 3. The construction of the frame can, of course, be varied widely.

The shaft 12 is journaled for rotation in bearing mem bers 28 and 29, which are mounted on the members 24 and 26, respectively, by suitable bolts 30. One end of the shaft protrudes beyond the bearing member 28 and hence outside of the area of the frame 11 and carries a collar 31 which is rigidly affixed to an upstanding flange 32 forming a part of the table 13 but extending at right angles from the major portion thereof.

When in its horizontal position, the table 13 is adapted to carry a reel 33, shown in dotted lines. The reel 33 comprises a bottom (or side) 34, and a top (or side) 35 joined by a spool 33A. Spool 33A is made in two halves, one half being attached to the bottom 34 and the other half to the top 35. This arrangement permits the spoolless core to be lowered into place on the reel conveniently. The flange 32 is provided with a projection 36, which is adapted to overlie the edge of the bottom 34 of the reel 33 to hold the same in position. A similar projection 37 is provided on an upstanding flange 38, which is located on one side of the table 13. Another similar projection 39 is provided on an upstanding flange 40 provided at the side of the table 13 opposite the flange 38. One corner of the table 13 located opposite the flange 32 is provided with a hole through which extends a pin 41. The pin 41 is carried in a bushing 42 affixed to the underside of the table 13 by a collar 43. The opposite end of the pin 41 carries a handwheel 44. The pin 41 preferably carries threads which mate with threads provided in the bushing 42, so that by rotating the handwheel 44 in one direction or the other the pin 41 extends above the surface of the table 13 or is retracted below the surface of the table 13, as the case may be.

With the pin 41 retracted below the surface of the table 13, the bottom 34 of a reel may he slid along the surface of the table 13, the rim of the bottom 34 being accommodated in three areas between the surface of the table 13 and the bottoms of the projections 36, 37 and 39. If the handwheel 44 is then rotated so that the pin 41 extends above the surface of the table 13, the bottom 34 of the reel 33 will be held firmly in position. In this connection, it will be observed that the pin 41 is located adjacent the periphery of the bottom 34.

With the bottom 34 held firmly in position as described, a wire carrying, spoolless core may be lowered in place over the spool 33A, and the top rim 35 may then be aflixed. The shaft 12 may then be rotated 90 in a clockwise direction (Fig. 1) so that the table 13 will be shifted from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2. The turning of the shaft 12 may, if desired, be accomplished by a suitable motor, although manual turning by means of a projecting handle 45 has been found satisfactory.

The floor 10 is preferably provided with a recess 46 adapted to accommodate the flange 40, as best shown in Fig. 3. The reel carrying surface of the flange 40 is preferably flush with the surface of the floor 10 so that upon retraction of the pin 41 the reel 33 may be rolled directly onto the surface of the floor 10. While the reel 33, when provided with a spool of wire, will normally be far too heavy for manual lifting, it will be easily rollable by one or two men. To facilitate handling of the reel 33, an end portion of flange 40 may be hinged.

The shaft 12 and the table 13 have two normal positions, the reel assembling position shown in Fig. 1 and the reel discharge position shown in Figs. 2 and 3, Since the reel and wire are quite heavy, it is desirable that the table 13 be firmly held in whichever position is desired. For this purpose the shaft 12 is provided with a collar 47 having slots 48 and 49 spaced 90 from each other around the periphery of the collar 47. The slots 48 and 49 are adapted to receive the end of a pin 50, which in Fig. 4 is shown in engagement with the slot 49. The pin 50 acts in an elongated hole provided in a bracket 51, which spans the 1 members 23 and 25. The other end of the pin 50 is affixed to a treadle 52 by means of a yoke 53. The treadle 52 is pivoted at one end thereof by means of a pin 52A aflixed to a pair of plates 54 and 55 carried on the member 16. The other end of the treadle 52 is disposed in an area suitable for foot operation by an operator. The treadle 52 is normally urged upwardly under action of a spring 56, so that when the treadle 52 is not depressed the pin 50 will seek to enter the slot 48 or the slot 49. When the pin 50 is in either of these slots, the shaft 12 is locked in position and may not be turned. When the treadle 52 is depressed by the operators foot, the pin 50 is retracted and the shaft 12 may be rotated by means of the handle 45.

While the invention has been described in a particular embodiment thereof and in a particular use, various modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as set forth in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

Apparatus for handling spoolless cores, comprising a frame, a shaft carried on said frame, a table carried on the end of said shaft, said shaft being rotatable between a position in which said table is horizontal and a position in which said table is vertical with respect to the floor under said table, a handle coupled to said shaft for rotating the latter, said table being adapted to support for assembly in horizontal position a wire carrying reel, said table having three upstanding flanges each located at a respective edge of said table, said flanges each having an inwardly extending projection arranged to engage the rim of a reel for retaining, together with the surface of said table, said reeel on said table when the latter is tilted from said horizontal position thereof to said vertical position thereof, a retractable pin arranged to project through the surface of said table adjacent the periphery of said rim to suppress movement of said reel in the plane of said table, said pin being retractable to permit said reel to he rolled away from said table when in said vertical position thereof, releasable means arranged to lock said shaft in the respective positions thereof in which said table is horizontal and vertical, and a foot operable treadle for releasing said releasable means, one of said flanges being located so as to be underneath said reel when said table is in said vertical position thereof and the reel supporting surface of said one flange being arranged to be substantially flush with said floor when said table is in said vertical position thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,380,704 Carswell et al. June 7, 1921 1,546,951 Swanson July 21, 1925 1,967,683 Ostrander July 24, 1934 2,313,115 Allen et al. Mar. 9, 1943 2,426,569 Stewart Aug. 26, 1947 2,597,246 Kelly May 20, 1952 2,776,764 Palmleaf Jan. 8, 1957 

